TWO British men hoping to enter the record books by rowing non-stop across the Indian Ocean are flying out to Australia in preparation three months earlier than planned.

TWO British men hoping to enter the record books by rowing non-stop across the Indian Ocean are flying out to Australia in preparation three months earlier than planned.

Simon Chalk, 30, and Robert Munslow, 24, had intended to set off on the 3,210-mile journey from Kalbarri, Australia, to the Reunion Islands in May in an attempt to beat the existing world record of 64 days.

But now they hope to begin the journey by the end of this month to try to beat a rival team.

It will be the second double-handed attempt to row the Indian Ocean for Chalk, who spent 15 hours in shark-infested waters waiting to be rescued after his boat capsized on his first trip last May.

The pair hope to beat the 64-day record set in 1931 by Sweden's Anders Svedlund, the only other person to row the route.

He added, "There isn't a complacency about it happening again but this time the chances are so remote. We've made plans so we would be an awful lot more prepared to deal with it and we've got the benefit of experience."

Chalk, a property developer from Newton Abbot, Devon, successfully rowed across the Atlantic in 1997 but has described the Indian Ocean challenge as "the holy grail".

If successful, the pair will become the first to complete a double-handed row across the Indian Ocean.

Munslow, who is unemployed and from Monmouth, would also become the youngest person to row across the ocean.

Although his first love is rugby he has previously attempted to row across the north Atlantic, a trip which came unstuck when the team lost a rudder. He said rowing the Indian Ocean had always been his dream.

"When you get out there the tranquility and the quietness, just taking on the might of the ocean, makes it pretty special," he said.

Both men admit suffering from seasickness but believe this will not be a problem after the first two or three days at sea.

They will take it in turns to row two-hour shifts on their 23ft ocean rowing boat True Spirit.

Chalk and his previous rowing partner, Bill Greaves, 41, were just two days into their trip last year when their boat struck an unknown object and capsized.

After 15 hours they were rescued by a merchant ship about 60 miles off the coast of Western Australia.